Competition Bureau to study Canadian airline sector

Canada’s Competition Bureau said it will launch a market study focused on the Canadian airline industry.

The initiative was announced by Melissa Fisher, a deputy commissioner with the bureau, while testifying in front of a parliamentary committee that started its own study of the same issues after Lynx Air folded in February, one of at least eight budget airlines to shut down in Canada since 2000.

According to the Canadian Press, Fisher said the bureau will look at improving competition for “the benefit of domestic air passengers as well as the workers and entrepreneurs who enable these services.”

She also cited “recent events that have raised questions about the state of competition in the airline sector.”

The study is expected to examine the state of competition in the airline sector—including barriers to competition, like regulations and policies—and how governments can make improvements.

Fisher noted it will be the first the bureau has conducted with the new powers it gained in December, including the ability to compel information from companies, and follows its recent insightful study of the grocery sector.

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